Quantum Language And The Migration Of Scientific Concepts
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Quantum Language and the Migration of Scientific Concepts
How highly abstract quantum concepts were represented in language, and how these concepts were later taken up by philosophers, literary critics, and new-age gurus. The principles of quantum physics—and the strange phenomena they describe—are represented most precisely in highly abstract algebraic equations. Why, then, did these mathematically driven concepts compel founders of the field, particularly Erwin Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, and Werner Heisenberg, to spend so much time reflecting on ontological, epistemological, and linguistic concerns? What is it about quantum concepts that appeals to latter-day Eastern mystics, poststructuralist critics, and get-rich-quick schemers? How did their interpretations and misinterpretations of quantum phenomena reveal their own priorities? In this book, Jennifer Burwell examines these questions and considers what quantum phenomena—in the context of the founders' debates over how to describe them—reveal about the relationship between everyday experience, perception, and language. Drawing on linguistic, literary, and philosophical traditions, Burwell illuminates representational and linguistic problems posed by quantum concepts—the fact, for example, that quantum phenomena exist only as probabilities or tendencies toward being and cannot be said to exist in a particular time and place. She traces the emergence of quantum theory as an analytic tool in literary criticism, in particular the use of wave/particle duality in interpretations of gender differences in the novels of Virginia Woolf and critics' connection of Bohr's Principle of Complementarity to poetic form; she examines the “quantum mysticism” of Fritjof Capra and Gary Zukav; and she concludes by analyzing “nuclear discourse” in the context of quantum concepts, arguing that it, too, adopts a language of the unthinkable and the indescribable.
Weirdness!
Author: Taner Edis
language: en
Publisher: Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)
Release Date: 2021-11-09
In a world where science faces challenges from creationists and climate change deniers, and where social media is awash with wild conspiracy theories, it is no longer enough for scientists, pundits, and activists to simply ask the public to trust science. Rather, all must better understand how science works, and why science is essential. By exploring many of the odd beliefs embraced by large sections of the public that are rejected by the scientific mainstream, Weirdness! makes a case for science that goes beyond popular slogans. It takes seriously claims that paranormal phenomena, such as psychic abilities and mythical creatures, might be real, but demonstrates how such phenomena would extend beyond the laws of nature. It rejects a sharp boundary between science and religion, while explaining how to negotiate their real differences. Denials of science cause no end of trouble, but so too does placing blind trust in science. As Weirdness! reminds readers, science should not be seen as a mechanism that takes in data and spits out truth—indeed, what we get wrong about how the world works is often as interesting as what we get right.
Quantum Ecology
An exploration of the emerging quantum technological paradigm and its effects on human consciousness and cultures. In Quantum Ecology, Stefano Calzati and Derrick de Kerckhove identify three technological ecologies—linguistic, digital, and quantum—to better understand today’s shattered globalized contemporaneity and navigate the impact of soon-to-come quantum information technologies. Today’s societies, based as they are on language and writing, face disruption brought on by digital transformation, which is not predicated on sharing meaning but on sheer computability. This produces what the authors call an “epistemological crisis.” From here, the book explores how emerging quantum computers and communication will trigger an even deeper existential shift based on quantum physics’ principles of discreteness, uncertainty, and entanglement. Enriched with evidence from biology, anthropology, sociolinguistics, and information and cognitive sciences, the authors draw upon diverse case studies to sustain a convincing philosophical and political argument. The book’s chapters move from a discussion about the coevolution of humans and language to the codependence of writing, thinking, and innovation, then proceed to investigate “datacracy,” the power of algorithms. Finally, the authors outline the looming psychocultural effects and geopolitical challenges of the nascent quantum technological paradigm.